Jailtime!
by Queen of Spiritual
Summary: Kristy and her friends wanted to try something new - they wanted to see what living on their own was like. Then they get into trouble. What would it be? Find out Rewritten


Note: This is another 20 - year - old story that is rewritten this morning. This is my first story I've posted this year, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Hi. I'm Kristy Thomas. My friends and I ran away from home and bought a house that was sold. Even Claudia moved in with us. We were running away from home because we wanted to see what living on our own was like, even though we still are in school. We are seventeen years old. Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey didn't tag along because their folks said they couldn't, and they felt bad they had to stay behind. We will still keep in touch, though. We packed all of our stuff, (including our beds) and we passed by a real estate office.

"Hey, Kristy," said Mary Anne.

"What?" I said.

"Are you almost asleep? Your eyes look tired."

"Yes. I 'm trying not to fall asleep," I said.

Stacey and Claudia were up in the front seat. All of us could drive, but Stacey offered to start driving, which we didn't mind.

Our parents were worried about us that they cried. We wanted more free space from our families, so this is why we wanted to see what being on our own was like. We still have the Baby – sitters Club. At least we still have the meetings in Claudia's old bedroom, which is what we agreed on. I fell asleep.

I slept for a while. I usually don't fall asleep during car trips, but I have no idea why it happened today. I was still asleep when there was a stop sign. After the second mile, I woke up. I felt a little bit better, which is good.

Stacey drove as fast as she could. The policemen stopped her. She rolled the window down.

"You were driving too fast, young lady. And I need to know why."

"I had to because there was somebody behind us at the stop sign and drove before the light turned green."

"You can't do that. If you do that again, you and your friends would have to go to jail."

She rolled up her window. She started to go fast again. The policeman stopped us again.

"Now all of you get in the car. Before you do, may I see your licenses?" he asked us.

We obeyed as we climbed out of the car.

"Teenagers? I'm sure you probably learned in driver's ed that you can't drive away from other people behind you. There is no law about people driving in front of you. They want to go in that direction also. This shouldn't be a reason for you to do that by speeding."

We saw he had a good point, but got into his car without complaining. Then he continued speaking as we got into the backseat of the vehicle.

"This is no longer your car. Take your stuff out."

We had to get out of the vehicle so we could obey what he just told us. When we did that, we got back into the car. There were other drivers who were watching us. Maybe they would tell their friends and family they watched teenagers speeding and getting caught from a police officer.

We were put in different cells. My cell was next to Claudia's. We had to hold our hands on the bars and stood up for a long time.

We were in the area that had teenagers like us, but it was known as juvenile jail. Now we saw for ourselves what it was like to be behind bars. This is no fun. We didn't want to make any of the calls to our parents, but we had to do what our officer told us. That meant we had to put the house back on the market and live with our families again. No way are we going to find out what living on our own was like. That would have to wait until we are ready to go to college, which isn't far from now.

Dawn stood up once again and held onto her bars in her cell.

"I'm tired of holding onto these. Stacey, if this didn't happen, we would've been at the new house by now. It's your fault. Mom and Mr. Spier wouldn't be very happy about us being in jail like this. We'd probably be punished for quite a while."

That was Dawn who said that. She was like the rest of us – she was tired of standing up and holding onto the bars. We were thankful not to have chains on our hands when the police officer took us into our cells. That was a good thing. It looked like our folks would have to pay the fine.

My guess was that when they come to pick us up, they might punish us by taking our licenses away. This is something we don't want to happen.

"I don't do this in New York."

"Yeah, because New York is a city. It's nothing like Stoneybrook," Claudia reminded her.

"Well, duh. I am only a teenager like you girls. In the city, there's a lot of traffic. My dad doesn't speed like I just did. He works all the time."

"At least he stays out of trouble," Mary Anne agreed.

"True. It's a good thing he doesn't live here in Stoneybrook. I don't want to tell him what happened. He might agree with my mom that I should have my license taken away from me until I learned my lesson. Mom was the one who helped me receive my permit, remember?"

We all nodded, but didn't say anything. Watson helped me out when Mom had other plans that she needed to do first. Watson is my stepfather. He's a nice guy. Since he's a millionaire, he has enough money to pay my half of the fine. Since we have the Baby – sitters Club to worry about, we don't have enough money right now to do it ourselves. We spent it on other things. We might have to make up for it when it's dues day next week. We have to find out how long we will be here in prison first before we could do that. Taking phone calls meant that Mallory and Jessi would have to take care of those if we weren't out of jail by then. That would be hard. At least Claudia is nice enough to let them go through her junk food that she hides from her mom and dad.

"What will we tell Mallory and Jessi?" Claudia asked.

They are our junior officers.

"I'll come up with something," I answered.

"You normally do, Kristy. You're the one who came up with the idea for the BSC."

"True. I'm always going to be full of ideas, even if it means when I go to college," I told Stacey.

"I'm sure we might have to make an agreement with our parents about how to pay for this on our half. We don't have enough money to do it ourselves. We still will have to do our baby – sitting jobs since Mallory and Jessi are still not ready to do that for long hours. They will have to keep trying their best to talk their parents into having longer hours. They're responsible," Mary Anne said.

We had to agree with her. Mary Anne happens to be my best friend. Claudia and I have known her for as long as we could remember. We will keep that friendship.

Within the next hour, we were finally able to get out of the cells and make those calls to our parents. Stacey was the first one because she did this speeding thing. We didn't have to get a ticket this time. All the police officer did was ask us to get out of the car, which we didn't think it would be worth an argument. We didn't want to complain to him. He never gave us his name, but we don't seem to care if he did or not.

After we waited twenty to thirty minutes, we were still having to stay behind bars. Watson was the one who picked me up since Mom had a dentist's appointment. I forgot she planned on going. I really don't care what day or time my mother and Watson visit the dentist and the doctor. We were also happy to see we didn't have to spend the night on these hard benches that were in our cells. That was something the officer didn't tell us, but we kinda figured it out on our own.

Watson paid for the fine. I don't remember what the number was since I didn't pay attention to that like he did. I was the first one to leave.

"Kristy, what happened that made you speed to get into jail?" Watson asked when he opened the front seat for me.

"Stacey was the driver, Watson. She sped through the light before it turned green," I said, and then added, "but the police officer who had taken us to the jail said we wouldn't be able to have that car back. I would like to find out how he would decide what to do with our car."

"Kristy, if she didn't do this, you wouldn't be in jail today," he told me.

"I know, Watson. What should I tell her if she finds out from you?" I asked.

"I'm not telling your mother, Kristy. You are going to tell her. I wasn't there when it happened."

"Are you going to come up with a punishment since we had to be in prison for a while?" I asked.

"I think so. Your mother and I will have to come up with an idea or two and then we would tell you. You will have to do what we decide on, even if it means you can't go to your meetings."

I didn't like what I heard what he just told me. I somehow figured that one out on my own.

"You're very luck, Kristy. At least you don't have to miss school to be in jail."

"I know, Watson. I'll tell Mom tonight when we're eating dinner."

I said the truth, and not lied. He saw that for himself.

"Good. She's not going to like this on the trouble that Stacey got you into."

"Of course not. Is she back from her visit with the dentist? I'm not sure, but I would guess probably yes."

"Did you tell her where you went?" I asked.

"No. I didn't have to."

He had a good point. Mom got into the house about ten minutes later. Watson sent me to my room, and I didn't complain when I went upstairs. I try not to complain to my stepfather. I've never done that since we moved into his mansion. I plan to keep it that way.

"Kristy!" Mom called.

Oops. Sounded like Watson told her that I came back home. The moving van would be stopping by to bring my stuff back. That includes my bed and clothes. I wasn't wearing any baseball caps, so I added them into my suitcase. I went downstairs.

"Yes, Mom?"

She was in the kitchen when I walked down from my bedroom.

"Watson told me you had a story to share."

Watson wasn't in the kitchen when Mom said that.

"Yes, I do."

"All he told me it's not a very good story."

"No, it's not."

I told my mother everything. When I finished, then Mom came up with an idea.

"Watson did mention that you might come up with an idea on what my punishment would be," I told her.

"We might take your license away."

"What about the Baby – sitters Club? We have our clients to think about," I said.

"That is something else he and I will talk about. We'll talk about it when you go to bed tonight. The moving van should be here in another hour."

"You'll have to help me set up my bed again," I told her.

"Yes, we will help you with that. After that, you're on your own. You will see what living on your own would be like when you start your freshman year."

"That's what I figured."

Then we said nothing more.

I headed back up to my room. I shut the door, but I heard Watson return to the kitchen when I walked upstairs.

"How did it go with Kristy?" I heard him ask.

Mom answered his question.

"We will talk about it with her at suppertime. I'm sure you and I will have something by then."

He agreed with Mom.

After the moving van arrived, we were able to eat dinner.

"Kristy, we came up with something," Mom told me when we all sat down.

"What?"

"We're going to take away your license for a whole month. It might teach you to learn your lesson."

"Stacey was the driver," I reminded her.

"I don't care if she drove or not. You were in the car with her, so that counts."

"Tell me what you decided on with the Baby – sitters Club."

"We're getting to that right now," Watson told me.

I listened without having any arguments.

"We decided that you can't go to the meetings. You also won't be getting any baby – sitting jobs, Kristy. It's only for one month. Can you handle that?"

I nodded, but didn't say anything. After we finished eating, I headed back upstairs to bring my wallet with me and give her the license. She took it from my wallet without saying anything. I did wonder how my other friends were doing with their conversations with their folks. It probably won't be a very good one, I told myself.

I said this before, but I will say it again – I am very thankful I didn't have to spend the night in jail.


End file.
